The final sentence, instancing baby boomers in a cheap throwaway shot. Why does he instance baby boomers? Why not leave it at just instancing residents' views. I find this a nasty piece of disrespectful ageism.
Well, one thing is that he is a former 'spin doctor for a National Treaty Negotiations minister, Chris Finlayson.'
"Much needed housing projects in leafy central Auckland suburbs are routinely scrapped by the authorities for much less – for blocking a baby boomer resident's views, or to save sagging old mid-century shopfronts."
The final few words of this take on it are "history and good planning" it gave me the chance to think about what is happening, like, probably, a lot of people I didn't know what to think of it or even have view.
After reading this I thought, why not Avondale Racecourse? Why not the golf clubs? Maybe this is uncomfortable but it does raise questions. Surely there is a solution.
Letting the Tamakis try and feed off this and protecting all other areas of Auck that are only used by a few or used rarely shouldn't be part of Auckland's future.
I notice a good picture of Ben Thomas in his article. I wonder if that is actually the main feature and intention of writing it though there is also a good aerial photo of the Stonefields volcanic cone.
The resource consent decision report describes the impact homes for other people to live in would have on Peter Lange: “He described the pleasure of sitting in his front bedroom or balcony and enjoying ‘the sunsets across the silhouetted parapets of the Edwardian shop fronts, to the Waitakeres beyond.’ He considered the imposition of a five storey building would seriously compromise this amenity.”
Yes, Mr Lange is certainly a 'resident' but that word is not shorthand for the attitudes that have been associated for many decades with the "Me" generation.
So, by the end of dinner, they decided to take on the government, the developers and the Auckland Council.
They settled on SOUL as the name for their protest group. It stands for Save Our Unique Landscape and their aim was to stop nearly 500 homes being built near their village, their ancient burial caves, the historic Ōtuataua Stonefields and their ancestral maunga, Te Puketāpapatanga-a-Hape and Ōtuataua.
For me – I am enjoying watching the ebb and flow of mana – this is how it works, live, in real time – ebb and flow. No one has to be worried because it is still moving, until it settles into the new spot it is fluid. Fixed positions, movement, change, solidity, unbreaking, ever flexible – we are getting a masterclass.
I am enjoying watching the ebb and flow of mana – this is how it works, live, in real time – ebb and flow. No one has to be worried because it is still moving, until it settles into the new spot it is fluid. Fixed positions, movement, change, solidity, unbreaking, ever flexible – we are getting a masterclass.
I don't think one more mm should be sold and in fact a lot should be GIVEN back gabbyduck. I'd give back a few other things too – mark my words on that one alright gabbs, I'd give back a FEW other things too I would, yes siree, indeed, say no more.
People have been describing this as the revolution of our generation, and the biggest Māori movement of this time, so it's really disappointing that she's not here," she said.
The call is now out for the protest crowd to get bigger as they wait for the Prime Minister to join the party.
There was something almost smug in the Prime Minister’s voice when she was asked if the government would intervene at Ihumatao. Oh no, she said – that’s an iwi dispute – nothing to do with the government – whew!
She was backed up by a phalanx of Maori Labour MPs – spineless to a person – who said it wasn’t the government’s role to get involved in internal iwi politics.
Never mind that the government set up special housing areas and approved the land for housing. Never mind that the government’s state forces – the police – are being used to drive people off the land on behalf of a private company. Never mind that the whole of New Zealand history has been built on the same scenario we see at Ihumatao.
And never mind that the colonial wars of the past have been based on the same crown logic the Prime Minister is using today.
If you've ever felt that you're not being given the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth by our elected representatives, both at central and local government level, you can take some comfort that your suspicions are well founded.
It’s not news that people doing PR and communications for the state heavily outnumber the journalists who report on the agencies employing them. But the numbers crunched by RNZ’s Phil Pennington show the gap has become a chasm – and the figures weren't easy to get.
Most government departments are having to increase the resources needed for Freedom of Information requests – most of those will probably be called communications staff . . .
I believe that some of the egregious requests should be countered by public release of both the questions and answers, and also for each request provide a "quick estimate" of person-hours spent on preparing the information. First by making more information public, questioners will only get a slight "scoop" advantage, if the requester is named (as it should be at least for all MPs and for corporations) it may give a guide to those who are seeking to bury initiative by tying up resources, but most importantly it may lead departments to review regular reporting so that systems automatically provide better public information
There is a cost to open and transparent government . . at least the emphasis now is on compliance rather than withholding information
It arises from two different National party imperatives. First they want smaller government, but they also need to be seen to increase spending. How to do that? Criticise any small part of any sector, and promise more money. No need for the criticism to be justified cancer is good because people die from it, so we are not doing enough. (Forget about all the other reasons for death, including the expensive "just getting older") Also forget about where the money comes from – if asked, point to anything the government is doing – the Regional Development Fund will do – as an example of less important spending.
The reality is that Pharmac has a mandate to look at all causes of need for treatments, and to balance those needs fairly, taking into account proven effects. The occasional political meddling is often related to a big company having a new (and nearly tested) wonder drug – sadly performance doe not always match rhetoric, but the purpose here is not to spend more money, but to be seen to be doing (or in this case promising for the future) something.
The reality for cancer treatment is that we already have a fairly concentrated system that puts specialists together in places where patients can be directed to give critical mass. We will never have a cancer specialist team on the West Coast – specialists want to see more than 2 or 3 patients a year . . . We know from the past that political decisions have not always matched clinical preferences – some of the past decisions to promise funding before an election have not survived dispassionate assessment of clinical results for a new drug.
So, 1. Where is the money coming from? Does this defer tax cuts?
2. My uncle has Heart disease / Parkinsons / Multiple Schlerosis / Dementia – what are you going to do for him and others like him? Or will treatment for them be cut to pay for the promise?
3. We are told to trust the market and to trust the medical profession – why do you think a political decision to "pick a winner" will result in better health outcomes overall. Is this just an election bribe? Does the National Party no longer believe in the benefits of a free market?
This is not about strengthening the hand of the state – $50 million a year for 4 years (presumably from 2021 when this little blurt from Simon may well have been forgotten . . .) will not make up for the cuts to the total health budget over the previous 9 years. This is a "look over there" action intended to distract. Even the basic premise that people all over New Zealand deserve to have specialist care in their neighbourhood is a nonsense – major centres are the only places with ready transport from elsewhere and enough patients to run complex speciality departments – it was I think under National that pediatric cancer services were concentrated in a small number of places. What National does believe in is crony capitalism, using money to temporarily buy support while encouraging the "self-reliance" of private health insurance . . .
The ideology dictates that government not only should not get in the way of the ‘free market’ but also that it should set policy that actively encourages and protects the ‘free market’. The government is to serve and protect markets in which individuals make rational decisions and choices that are in their best interest. What the ideology assumes is the sum of these individual actions delivers the best possible outcome for the greater good. In fact, it is claimed that this is the only ideology that can achieve this outcome. What is often downplayed or outright ignored is that people don’t make strictly rational decisions and choices and that they are heavily influenced by marketing, advertising, PR, and spin, et cetera. The ideology further ignores that choice is an allusion and in fact an illusion because it encourages mergers & acquisitions into large dominant market players and monopolies. The same market ‘principles’ feed back into the market itself in which companies and corporates make decisions that are in their (shareholders’) best interest. The madness of this ideology is that many not just believe but are convinced that the cumulative effect of an infinite number of selfish actions is a selfless benefit to all.
Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.
It is clear that National has not learned and moved on from their mistake to ride roughshod over PHARMAC’s decision-making process and fund Herceptin as an Election promise in 2008.
This is yet another cynical promise of frivolous spending of Taxpayers’ money sold as ‘life-saving’.
A guaranteed extra windfall of $50 million each year (!) for pharma industry thanks to the generosity of Simon Bridges and his buddies in National. How many bridges did Bridges promise again?
I’d suggest that PHARMAC adopts a no-cure-no-pay policy for expensive drugs. Given that only a fraction of patients respond to these expensive treatments and given that all treated patients are exposed to potentially severe side effects of the drugs, it makes no sense to charge the full price (not cost) to each and every patient. Unfortunately, they cannot tell who will benefit and who won’t.
Thus, set a very conservative base re-fund and then for each month or year of clinical benefit to the patient pay a little more to the point at which a patient is disease-free and/or considered cured. As soon as a patient relapses, the payments stop indefinitely. That would be true value-for-money. At the moment, it is largely a gamble with people’s lives and finances with the only real winners being the pharma industry.
Would be a useful policy if we implement fast-tracking for unproven drugs. Insurance for reducing the up-front barriers. Maybe in a 'partnership agreement' with the pharma companies?
The gold standard in clinical registration trials for anti-cancer drugs is overall survival but this can take years to measure. Unfortunately, surrogate or secondary endpoints such as progression-free survival don’t always predict for overall survival.
Pharma provide (new) drugs free to patients who participate in clinical trials but it is important to note that not all trials are equal.
The other point to consider is that trial results often are more positive than when used in the general patient population. There are a number of reasons for that.
Because of the side effects and the general lack of predictive diagnostics, I think there has to be a sound evidence-base before PHARMAC fully funds new treatments. Partly, because it could go at the expense of other expenditure on proven treatments, be it for cancer or non-cancer.
New drugs offer great promise in some cases but also come with great(er) uncertainty. IMO, this should definitely be reflected in a lower cost price to PHARMAC.
In some ways, it is the pharma’s best interest to treat as many patients as possible regardless of whether they’ll benefit or not. Patient selection based on predictive diagnostics increases the chances of clinical benefit to the patient but reduces the potential market size for the pharma.
The main issue is that the best drug should be tailored to a specific patient (best match) with the greatest chance of a beneficial outcome for the patient, which is where personalised medicine is heading, and this could be coupled to the pharma’s profit. Currently, the two are often uncoupled from each other and pricing is set by the pharma and how much ‘the market’ can tolerate and is willing to accept. It has an element of preying on the desperate and giving them hope …
Results need to be made public and there needs much more transparency and accountability from and by the pharma industry especially since we, the Taxpayers, pay for it.
Sometimes, you get the feeling that the ‘ethics’ of Big Pharma and Tobacco Industry are virtually indistinguishable. Of course, their number one priority is to satisfy their shareholders.
Regulators should make it mandatory to publish all results of all trials through peer-review. Patients shouldn’t be used as Guinea pigs to boost profits.
After market approval, all adverse events need to be collated in a central register that is open and searchable. This needs an international global approach.
I am not the only commenter here who has expressed bitter disappointment at the nation being stuck with yet another Minister of Health who is clearly unequal to the task of enabling the necessary reboot of our Public Health and Disability system.
That is, of course, if the Current Mob were speaking true when they declared their intention to be transformational and address the failings and inequities that have been allowed to flourish under the past four administrations.
A cynical person might suspect that the underlying intent is to push this nation inexorable down the path to a system where those who can go private and those who can't….suffer and die.
Choices are certainly a bitch, aren't they. Salaried medical specialists are probably in just the category that would have benefited from National's further cuts to income tax that the new government reversed. Instead the increased the minimum wage, increased benefits, stopped spending so much money on making WINZ staff proxy police and got them to actually help people in need (and surprise surprise suddenly without changing the law suddenly staff found that many people were actually eligible for a benefit). They put money into repairing and building social housing, and money into reviewing education for skills training so we don;t have to import more; they settled long overdue wage agreements with nurses and teachers. In half a term quite a bit has been achieved. Meanwhile we are looking forward to the possibility of another world recession; our debt position as a country is much higher than desirable, and a pre-election promise has led to our continuing with low income tax rates for companies and individuals, with some blatant loopholes that further reduce spending options.
I agree that there was a lurch towards private provision of health services under the Key/English governments – and yes there is a gap in earnings between private and public specialists. I well remember a news item shortly before the 2017 election where Bill English proudly attended a major extension of Bowen Hospital in Wellington; accompanied I think around the same time by the purchase by a private provider of an MRI machine – but don't worry, the public sector can contract to use it when it is not being used for private patients . . . So I too would like the public sector to "close the gap" in a lot of ways, but if priority were to be given to salaried medical specialists, what other part of spending would you be happy to reduce, Rosemary?
Sure, but that wasn’t the question, was it? It would have been more honest and clearer to reframe the question and explain why but you didn’t, did you?
You do sound a tad like Amy Adams “sniping” about or at the Budget, don’t you?
Edit:
You are an attack machine Rosemary McD. Only your problems and those of other disabled people should be looked at, nobody else matters. And talking down the ELOC (End of Life Choice) Bill is a narrow position. Less money spent on interfering with natural death; limiting the drawn-out 'life' of terminally ill means more available for those actually living, not just existing. I am as despairing as you are of intelligent and fair behaviour as needed and wanted by people who need help with their plans for their future.
Health must be a nightmare portfolio….the reality is there will never be enough resources and choices will be made. …whether the best (or right?) will be a never ending debate….it will depend on where you view it from.
"Health", ie the "Ministry of", has become an autonomous corporate monster. Regardless of which colour flies atop the Beehive, the Ministry will continue along the path laid out over two decades ago. Underfund the system and provide dysfunctional leadership. Blame and accuse those charged with providing frontline services for not being able to function as required when they're running to stand still. Contract out core services to profiteers. Allow the creation of an separate profession called 'health management and administration', whose sole role appears to be to draw $$$ away from actual treatment and care and into the salaries of those who without knowing the first thing about running a busy ward march in and start telling the medical staff how to run a busy ward….Brian Easton describes these parasites here…https://pundit.co.nz/content/who-was-accountable-for-the-shambles
A brave Prime Minister would address the Nation and say.."Look folks, our Public Health and Disability system is in deepest shit.. Decades of mismanagement has resulted in such a deficit that we have only two choices….a) give up and limp along on existing funding and under the cloud of strained relationships and encourage those who can afford it to take out private health insurance (as was the plan in the first place), or b) we do a massive reboot, a sizeable and meaningful cash injection that will truly be an investment for future generations…but this option requires us to impose and extra 2% of tax on every earner, ringfenced as an addition to the current Vote Health appropriations. This tax shall stay in place until we're out of the pooh."
Id go for 'b' as well….but would note the result would still be well short of providing everything demanded.
Health care will always be triaged….some honest discussions about what are must haves and what would be good if able are needed, but I doubt any politician of any hue is willing to risk that
David Clark seems to believe long-standing workforce issues can't somehow be solved by bringing in more trained medical specialists (from offshore) or is it a case of the Government not wanting to spend the money required to do that?
Great article worth another read in these times – we all have this tendency – some more than others – listen please, just listen.
But the truth is, she didn’t misunderstand me at all. She understood what was happening perhaps better than I did. When she began to share her raw emotions, I felt uncomfortable. I didn’t know what to say, so I defaulted to a subject with which I was comfortable: myself.
That is good MM. Shutting up and finding ways to affirm their thoughts or occasionally indicate a different way, 'Have you thought of trying…' is the best. Sometimes thoughts get so scrambled that talking through them with a trusted person gives a clarity.
What a bloody laugh as I woke up today (sunday) 28th july to see lame brain Simon Bridges saying;;
“I believe in climate change is a real threat to our nation” to Tova O;Brien, and then he tries to nail the point home by saying quote “we have two electric cars”
If that incredible statment wasn;t enough, then he says about the National Party policy was to build new roads????
What the fuck@@@@@
Is he brainless? it would seem as he is as more roads are not the way forward to lower the climate emissions!!
Using more rail is, as rail uses six times less fuel to move the same amount as trucks do, and rail uses no tyres and only “steel on steel wheels, for low friction and only has steel particulates emissions.
Vehicle tyres emit large amounts of tyre dust pollution made from oil distilates similar to plastic,
That causes cancer and nervous system damage, with 1,3,Butadience styrene,
"It is the number one issue that comes up from interviewing Treaty claimants. In negotiations, a group or individual is given a mandate, and then put under incredible pressure to get the settlement over the line.
"But in the end there is no negotiation, from a Māori view, it is all defined in terms set by the Crown, or in this case a developer, and mostly involving financial settlements.
"It leads to disputes within and/or between iwi or hapū, and leads to outcomes in favour of the Crown."
Do you think that this presents a good opportunity to revisit the whole settlement issue? Peeni Henare made it clear this morning that returning land in private ownership will render all previous settlements invalid. That could well be a legitimate outcome, do you have a perspective on that?
The strategy only works when the target group allows it to do so. Unity defeats division. Mutu ought to get real instead. If she really believes the four-year stand-off between niece & uncle was caused by the crown, she ought to produce evidence of that. She hasn't even tried to do so, has she?
The polling bump (thankfully very small) he got from "send her back" suggested that there is in fact a group of deplorables on the fence about whether he is sufficiently racist for their taste. Trying to lock down their support might be why he's going after Cummings now.
If National didn't limit itself to promising action to the citizens about decent drinking water and severe limitations on pollution in waterways then he wouldn't need to bribe voters with cancer drug offers (most of which don't cure). The appearance of concern after the fact is a sorry sight and leads to disdain, recognising the degeneracy of National from voters of principle.
Socialism in one country (Russian: социализм в отдельно взятой стране, tr. sotsializm v otdelno vzyatoy strane, literally socialism in a single country) was a theory put forth by Joseph Stalin and Nikolai Bukharin in 1924 which was eventually adopted by the Soviet Union as state policy.
So the pretence fools you that easily? He had to kill 30 million of his own people to try and get the rest to believe in the sham, and it still didn't work. Reality trumps delusion. Every time.
You made a stupid fucken statement. Stalin, and indeed virtually all so-called 'communist' countries describe themselves as 'socialist'.
'Socialism' is the phase before true 'communism' is achieved.
You obviously don't fucken know that and that shows what a dumb shit you are unqualified to comment on anything to so with the communist movement and Marxism Leninism.
30 million killed? ……sound like a naive stupid school girl.
Now answer me this. If Stalin really was such a monster, why is he so widely admired even now, in the very country he was supposed to have committed the vast majority of his crimes.
If Stalin really was such a monster, why is he so widely admired even now, in the very country he was supposed to have committed the vast majority of his crimes.
You really appear to not know much history. Perhaps you should look at the effects of mass level propaganda when the media is held and controlled by the state. It was a thing in the mid-20th century after the technology became available for it to be achieved.
If you studied the period with a little more depth, the you’d look less like a complete idiot. You might even be capable of making an argument without all of the dick pulling you just did.
I’d suggest you don’t use that kind of abuse approach to replying again. Next time I see you do it, I’ll demonstrate exactly how useless you are at it. You do appear to be a pretty incompetent dimwit – wannabe student?
If Stalin really was such a mass murdering monster then it would be in the lived memories of those few still alive who lived during his time, or at least it would have been passed down to the sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters of those who did.
To think that we living in the West are not subject to those same mass delusions created by the corporate media that you accuse those living in non Western countries of being subject to by their own respective media is to be completely absurd.
To think that the opinion of a Russian of his own history is less valid than a Westerner who only reads Anne Appelbaum and Robert Conquest is simply quite arrogant.
If you looked at the article I linked to in my first post, it is Western researchers themselves who have found that many many people, a majority in some former Eastern bloc countries, people who actually lived under the socialist system, find it was better in those days than what they have now.
And if life in the former Soviet Union was really such a horror show, why did Putin restore the Soviet Anthem with only the words re-written, surely nothing is more redolent of past times, good or bad, than great music.
And anecdotally, I have heard the same from Eastern Europeans who now live in New Zealand.
"Congratulating Stalin means supporting him and his cause, supporting the victory of socialism, and the way forward for mankind which he points out, it means supporting a dear friend. For the great majority of mankind today are suffering, and mankind can free itself from suffering only by the road pointed out by Stalin and with his help."
If Stalin really was such a mass murdering monster then it would be in the lived memories of those few still alive who lived during his time, or at least it would have been passed down to the sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters of those who did.
It was. This isn’t exactly hard to find if you look around for material from the Khrushchev thaw period between 1953 and about 1957/8 arguably later – but really the thing pretty much died after the Hungarian repression.
If you haven’t seen it, then I’d say that you probably have just been avoiding it.
To think that we living in the West are not subject to those same mass delusions created by the corporate media that you accuse those living in non Western countries of being subject to by their own respective media is to be completely absurd.
What makes you think that we aren’t? Tell you do you ever listen to anyone else apart from your own self-referential bullshit. After all I was born in 1959. My adolescence was backgrounded with the stupidity of the Vietnam war, the threat of nuclear annihilation, and all of those old soldiers who’d never talk about the first or second world wars and what they saw entering the charnel houses of Europe and Japan.
If you looked at the article I linked to in my first post, it is Western researchers themselves who have found that many many people, a majority in some former Eastern bloc countries, people who actually lived under the socialist system, find it was better in those days than what they have now.
So? My grandparents were young adults and my parents were children grew up in post-1930s depression and in WW2 and the reconstruction in the 1940s and 50s. They’d happily tell you that that world was a better place then it was when I was doing army and university in the late 1970s. In fact the only ancient person that I have ever come across who seemed to think that when they grew up was shite was my great grandmother. But she was in service in her teens and really on the arse-end of society.
Generally relying on the rose tinted recollections of the past or the even dark tinted recollections of the mentally ill or abused is simply not useful. You have a hell of a problem trying to get a un-self-selected sample because people will either want to talk about it or not depending how it is framed at them. The most significiant way of running those kinds of samples is to look at the silences – that is always where the interesting stuff is kept. The treatment of teen pregnancies in NZ being a good local example. Or the way that people don’t talk about the GULAG in the USSR. Or the silence related to the work-to-death slavery that the Japanese did in Mongolia and China in the 1930s and 40s.
To think that the opinion of a Russian of his own history is less valid than a Westerner who only reads Anne Appelbaum and Robert Conquest is simply quite arrogant.
Personally I don’t have an opinion on history. I just study it. That is something that is quite different from the kind of myth repetition that you’re referring to (and are doing yourself). History is something that I have been doing as a hobby (with a bit of uni time as well) for about 48 years after I switched from fiction to non-fiction as my main reading material.
Personally I’m not interested in dumb-arse propaganda, and it certainly doesn’t do you any favours when you try to shout it down peoples throats. Especially people who are clearly bigger skeptics than you are.
The gulag systems are about as well documented as the Japanese internment camps of the US after 1941, or the way that we used Somes Island and a few other places here or just about every other reasonably well run camp system. By their very nature, prison camp systems are at documented and accounted for because they’re pretty costly to run. Most of the time their records survive for historians. The exceptions are usually where there is an attempted coverup, like the Nazi concentration camps or the Cambodian death camps before they got over-run by advancing forces.
The gulag system wasn’t over run. It was just run-down post-Stalin. The documentation of the system (albeit somewhat cleaned up) was done in the speech by Khrushchev in 1956. The material that was prepared on was a series of studies of the gulag system by the USSR communist party hierarchy and its use in the late 1930s during the largest part of the largest purges. As a ‘skeptic’, you can probably assume that in itself was a sanitised version.
Perhaps you should find it and actually study a translation of the speech and the investigation of the 17th party congress and its aftermath. Sanitised or not, it was pretty searing indictment of a system that you seem to be trying to say never existed. Which I find to be a rather willfully self-delusional bit of stupidity.
Yes, people often do look to the past with rose tinted glasses, but not if they were supposed to have gone through the horrors of 'stalinism' as portrayed in the West.
I was responding to rather less informed commentators than yourself, people such as Dennis Frank who comes up with the fantastical 30 million nonsense, or people like Appelbaum or Timothy Snyder.
Yes, one could have gone through perhaps the 1930s depression and still have somewhat fond memories of community bonding, say, or character building.
That's different from going through the Holocaust – not many old European Jews from WWII era qill say, 'well we sure had things better in those days!' You don't get parades in Israel with Nazi banners, nor, I am sure would the Horst Wessel move people to tears.
Similarly if Stalin really did commit the sort of crimes claimed for him by the Western corporate media, he would be hated by the people he ruled, mainly Russians. Not repeatedly voted as the greatest 'Russian'
NoteStalin's popularity wildly eclipses Khruschev who is seen as a fool and a liar and particularly Gorbacheve are seen as a traitor.
Stalin, while not perfect, surely was one of the greatest men of the 20 thcentury.
And if you want to hear / learn about our propaganda towards Russia ….. This doco mentions 1947 as the year when Russia became a 'official enemy', to be attacked by every means apart from troops.
I've always wondered how many of 'stalins famine' was down to 'scorched earth' warfare' //// and the huge amount of working aged men killed in Russia…..
….Our propaganda seems to say none,,,,, and stalin killed them all…
But Even Stalin was not as bad as neo=lib western 'shock thearapy'… which is probably why the Russians hold the views they do.
Under Yeltsin, Russia’s economy collapsed some 60%, the male life expectancy plummeted from 68 years to 56, millions were reduced to living on subsistence farming for the first time since Stalin as wages went unpaid for years at a time. Russia was on its way to going extinct—but about 3-5% of the population (plus or minus 3%) was making out like bandits. https://pando.com/2015/05/17/neocons-2-0-the-problem-with-peter-pomerantsev/
In the end, Yeltsin won by old school fraud — in Chechnya, for example, where Yeltsin’s war had killed 40,000 people and displaced half the population, elections showed 1,000,000 Chechens voted (even though less than half a million adults remained in Chechnya at the time of voting), and that 70% of them voted for Yeltsin, their exterminator. That helped deliver the numbers that the West needed to see—enough for the New York Times to declare it "A Victory for Russian Democracy"—parroting the laughably cheerful assessment of President Clinton and his team.
It seems Yelstin got a 200% voter turn out in Chechnya … … now that is impressive :0
Leading thinkers discuss the protest at Ihumātao
Magic Talk, Thursday 25 July 2019, 10:15 a.m.
AMANDA: It's the gravy train. They're being rewarded for their behaviours.
PETER WILLIAMS: Thanks for that, Amanda! Good morning, Chris.
CHRIS: Yeah g'day. Just looking at the calibre of these protestors: what would their EMPLOYERS have been thinking?
PETER WILLIAMS:[chortling conspiratorially] What are you trying to say, Chris? What are you trying to say?
CHRIS: Have they even GOT jobs? That lady from Britain you had on earlier, she needs to get her head out of the clouds. I was talking to my friend the policeman, and he says that NINETY PER CENT of the crime is Maori, and it's getting worse, and it's getting WORSE, and it's getting WORSE. …..
In 2017, the UN reported that a “child under five” in Yemen “dies every 10 minutes” from “preventable causes”. The war has already displaced over 3.6 million people and created the world’s largest recorded cholera epidemic. Cholera, which is the result of contaminated food and drinking water, results in intense vomiting and diarrhoea. If left untreated, it can kill. According to French investigative news outlet Disclose, coalition airstrikes have bombed 659 farms, 229 boats and 91 sites “supplying drinking water, including reservoirs, wells, water pumps, and also irrigation canals and water treatment plants”.
Today is the day humans have used all that Papatuanuku can produce in a year was used up in 7 months we will all have to become minimalist to survive.
Lance that is awesome the 200 Mobil doctor clinic that services is NEEDED in Te taiwhiti.
Sam Eco Maori thinks that your championing all the tamariki in foster care been given a KIWIs Saver account that would set them up for life ka pai.
Lance that was a awesome eureka moment the mobile healthcare clinic thanks. Its been a while since Eco Maori had a Eureka moment ma te wa. It would be nice if the big companies sponsored this Fontana Gull Mobile Pack and save Countdown The Warehouse Eco Maori lays a challenge for you to sponsor this great out of the square Idea
Its hard to get a doctor's appointment in rual Aotearoa the wait can be 1 to 2 weeks to see a doctor Eco Maori knowns that it pays to trear a ailment immediately if not the case just gets worse next minute hangi .q
That was well said the African American who gave trump a great serve very cool.
Winston I agree that colmar brunton poll is just use to manipulate and lie to the VOTERS.
Good to see you on the Show Winston.
Duncan you need to Google your self.
I agree Winston the Coalition Government is cleaning up a big national MESS.
There you go people playing games with imagration figure to try and make the government look bad.
The Black Caps did Aotearoa proud its not there fault that the system is bent by putea chin up guys.
Bryce statistics lie when they are massaged by right wing money to try and boost their m8 rating ie national.
Elijah your words hit a brick wall kia kaha Tangata whenua O Aotearoa get more respect than other minoritie culture get from the ruling class but we still have a lot of crap heaped on us one just has to look at the fiasco that is going on around Eco Maori to see that's a FACT.
I think it's is about time that the car manufacturers should have a solution for babies being left in car very great idea.
That man who lost his twins accidentally leaving them in a hot car. He was working in a most probably a under staffed and over worked people I say it was fatigue over worked that caused him to forget his babys he will be shattered.
I have already given my tau toko of Lance great Idea come on if it saves you money David and saves lives why not back it .
There you go Our Coalition Governments has invested more than a billion dollar into the welbing of the needy don't rock te waka to much we might get swamped.
Look like most of my Ngati Porou Whanau have a higher IQ than most as that is only a small amount of people at that protest about CYPS in Turanga A kiwa .
Condolences to Sean Whanau for their great lose Eco Maori seen quite a bit of Sean in Maori leaders circles.
I its good
Te Ao Maori News its lucky Eco Maori has a few skills up his sleeve as the sandflys tried to block my post to Maori TV.
Some muppets called shonky royalty YEA RIGHT did you hear him put his foot in his mouth he said Jacinda is a morals based person thats great for Jacinda but Eco Maori says because shonky made that statement live on TV he has admitted to having NO MORALS.
I,, Winston national are talking alot of hog wash about the putea being invested in cancer drugs and treatment they are desperate have you ever seen a political party pull all the fossil out of the cupboard to try and lift there poll ratings keep those back benches WARM.
simon you're just rambling words. The Coalition government has made more good choices and changes in 2 years than national did in 8
Sandy the Baltimore issue trump is just a bully he thinks he can control everyone
Seenothing your statement shows you don't have enough respect for Tangata Whenua O Aotearoa.
If there was no Organized Crime in NZ what about all the Pee addicts I see around NZ I see a spike in these people in Port cities Why because thats where the shit is getting into NZ.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Opinion: New Health NZ commissioner Lester Levy is authorised to assume operational leadership – chief executive Margie Apa is effectively relegated to his operational deputy The post All-powerful Levy is feudal baron of a $28b fiefdom appeared first on Newsroom. ...
An opinion piece from one Ben Thomas on Ihumãtao.
The final sentence, instancing baby boomers in a cheap throwaway shot. Why does he instance baby boomers? Why not leave it at just instancing residents' views. I find this a nasty piece of disrespectful ageism.
Well, one thing is that he is a former 'spin doctor for a National Treaty Negotiations minister, Chris Finlayson.'
"Much needed housing projects in leafy central Auckland suburbs are routinely scrapped by the authorities for much less – for blocking a baby boomer resident's views, or to save sagging old mid-century shopfronts."
The final few words of this take on it are "history and good planning" it gave me the chance to think about what is happening, like, probably, a lot of people I didn't know what to think of it or even have view.
After reading this I thought, why not Avondale Racecourse? Why not the golf clubs? Maybe this is uncomfortable but it does raise questions. Surely there is a solution.
Letting the Tamakis try and feed off this and protecting all other areas of Auck that are only used by a few or used rarely shouldn't be part of Auckland's future.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/114554464/the-real-reason-why-fletchers-is-building-at-ihumtao
(the link seems to have Ihumãtao. spelt incorrectly but does work)
Can we have a link for the Ben Thomas article please.
My apologies, Sacha.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/114556346/opinion-heres-why-the-government-cant-return-ihumtao-to-iwi
All good, thanks. I will probably regret it. 🙂
Actually that's a pretty good summary of why govt has been so unwilling to get involved.
I notice a good picture of Ben Thomas in his article. I wonder if that is actually the main feature and intention of writing it though there is also a good aerial photo of the Stonefields volcanic cone.
Thomas is referring to this particularly egregious situation: https://thespinoff.co.nz/auckland/30-08-2018/this-ludicrous-dominion-road-decision-is-proof-the-planning-system-is-broken/
Yes, Mr Lange is certainly a 'resident' but that word is not shorthand for the attitudes that have been associated for many decades with the "Me" generation.
Mr Lange lives in the same little cluster of housing that got a bit of attention a couple of months ago, yeah?
Over the other side of the same street, I think.
Backgrounder
For me – I am enjoying watching the ebb and flow of mana – this is how it works, live, in real time – ebb and flow. No one has to be worried because it is still moving, until it settles into the new spot it is fluid. Fixed positions, movement, change, solidity, unbreaking, ever flexible – we are getting a masterclass.
This
is beautiful.
Thank you.
Why shun the soil enriched by your ancestors mardymardy?
I don't think one more mm should be sold and in fact a lot should be GIVEN back gabbyduck. I'd give back a few other things too – mark my words on that one alright gabbs, I'd give back a FEW other things too I would, yes siree, indeed, say no more.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/07/ihum-tao-protester-numbers-surge-into-thousands-as-ministers-enter-fray.html
Gfoffloffle issues the party invites around here chum.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/07/27/divide-and-rule-is-the-first-choice-weapon-of-government-the-second-is-the-police-and-the-third-is-the-army/
Eric the ripper' involved in 'pump and dump'…surely not!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114555844/eric-watson-named-in-fbi-search-warrant-documents-in-relation-to-insider-trading-case
Cannasouth IPO comes to mind.
If you've ever felt that you're not being given the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth by our elected representatives, both at central and local government level, you can take some comfort that your suspicions are well founded.
The Bullshit Brigade have taken over.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018705810/running-the-numbers-on-public-service-pr
It’s not news that people doing PR and communications for the state heavily outnumber the journalists who report on the agencies employing them. But the numbers crunched by RNZ’s Phil Pennington show the gap has become a chasm – and the figures weren't easy to get.
So much for open and transparent government.
SSDD
It's odd that more PR people = less info. At least the bullshit's on glossy paper.
Comms staff in risk-averse organisations are mostly focused on restricting information, not spreading it.
Most government departments are having to increase the resources needed for Freedom of Information requests – most of those will probably be called communications staff . . .
I believe that some of the egregious requests should be countered by public release of both the questions and answers, and also for each request provide a "quick estimate" of person-hours spent on preparing the information. First by making more information public, questioners will only get a slight "scoop" advantage, if the requester is named (as it should be at least for all MPs and for corporations) it may give a guide to those who are seeking to bury initiative by tying up resources, but most importantly it may lead departments to review regular reporting so that systems automatically provide better public information
There is a cost to open and transparent government . . at least the emphasis now is on compliance rather than withholding information
Good explainer on Nats proposing another $50m/year (about 5%) for Pharmac to make drug companies happy: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/07/national-promises-200-million-cancer-fund.html
It arises from two different National party imperatives. First they want smaller government, but they also need to be seen to increase spending. How to do that? Criticise any small part of any sector, and promise more money. No need for the criticism to be justified cancer is good because people die from it, so we are not doing enough. (Forget about all the other reasons for death, including the expensive "just getting older") Also forget about where the money comes from – if asked, point to anything the government is doing – the Regional Development Fund will do – as an example of less important spending.
The reality is that Pharmac has a mandate to look at all causes of need for treatments, and to balance those needs fairly, taking into account proven effects. The occasional political meddling is often related to a big company having a new (and nearly tested) wonder drug – sadly performance doe not always match rhetoric, but the purpose here is not to spend more money, but to be seen to be doing (or in this case promising for the future) something.
The reality for cancer treatment is that we already have a fairly concentrated system that puts specialists together in places where patients can be directed to give critical mass. We will never have a cancer specialist team on the West Coast – specialists want to see more than 2 or 3 patients a year . . . We know from the past that political decisions have not always matched clinical preferences – some of the past decisions to promise funding before an election have not survived dispassionate assessment of clinical results for a new drug.
So, 1. Where is the money coming from? Does this defer tax cuts?
2. My uncle has Heart disease / Parkinsons / Multiple Schlerosis / Dementia – what are you going to do for him and others like him? Or will treatment for them be cut to pay for the promise?
3. We are told to trust the market and to trust the medical profession – why do you think a political decision to "pick a winner" will result in better health outcomes overall. Is this just an election bribe? Does the National Party no longer believe in the benefits of a free market?
Yes, it is always ideologically interesting watching the Nats strengthen the hand of the state while claiming otherwise.
This is not about strengthening the hand of the state – $50 million a year for 4 years (presumably from 2021 when this little blurt from Simon may well have been forgotten . . .) will not make up for the cuts to the total health budget over the previous 9 years. This is a "look over there" action intended to distract. Even the basic premise that people all over New Zealand deserve to have specialist care in their neighbourhood is a nonsense – major centres are the only places with ready transport from elsewhere and enough patients to run complex speciality departments – it was I think under National that pediatric cancer services were concentrated in a small number of places. What National does believe in is crony capitalism, using money to temporarily buy support while encouraging the "self-reliance" of private health insurance . . .
The ideology dictates that government not only should not get in the way of the ‘free market’ but also that it should set policy that actively encourages and protects the ‘free market’. The government is to serve and protect markets in which individuals make rational decisions and choices that are in their best interest. What the ideology assumes is the sum of these individual actions delivers the best possible outcome for the greater good. In fact, it is claimed that this is the only ideology that can achieve this outcome. What is often downplayed or outright ignored is that people don’t make strictly rational decisions and choices and that they are heavily influenced by marketing, advertising, PR, and spin, et cetera. The ideology further ignores that choice is an allusion and in fact an illusion because it encourages mergers & acquisitions into large dominant market players and monopolies. The same market ‘principles’ feed back into the market itself in which companies and corporates make decisions that are in their (shareholders’) best interest. The madness of this ideology is that many not just believe but are convinced that the cumulative effect of an infinite number of selfish actions is a selfless benefit to all.
Selfishness itself is the main beneficiary of NZ's last few decades – now the embedded default for public discourse.
This:
Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.
Herman Melville
US novelist & sailor (1819 – 1891)
Another small but predictably disgusting piece of selective shroud-waving from the Nats.
It is clear that National has not learned and moved on from their mistake to ride roughshod over PHARMAC’s decision-making process and fund Herceptin as an Election promise in 2008.
https://www.pharmac.govt.nz/about/our-history/hard-choices/
This is yet another cynical promise of frivolous spending of Taxpayers’ money sold as ‘life-saving’.
A guaranteed extra windfall of $50 million each year (!) for pharma industry thanks to the generosity of Simon Bridges and his buddies in National. How many bridges did Bridges promise again?
I’d suggest that PHARMAC adopts a no-cure-no-pay policy for expensive drugs. Given that only a fraction of patients respond to these expensive treatments and given that all treated patients are exposed to potentially severe side effects of the drugs, it makes no sense to charge the full price (not cost) to each and every patient. Unfortunately, they cannot tell who will benefit and who won’t.
Thus, set a very conservative base re-fund and then for each month or year of clinical benefit to the patient pay a little more to the point at which a patient is disease-free and/or considered cured. As soon as a patient relapses, the payments stop indefinitely. That would be true value-for-money. At the moment, it is largely a gamble with people’s lives and finances with the only real winners being the pharma industry.
No cure no pay?
Interesting idea.
Well, more like no-cure-much-less-pay. There’s a good post on this topic but time …
Would be a useful policy if we implement fast-tracking for unproven drugs. Insurance for reducing the up-front barriers. Maybe in a 'partnership agreement' with the pharma companies?
Perhaps better to call them not-yet-proven drugs?
The gold standard in clinical registration trials for anti-cancer drugs is overall survival but this can take years to measure. Unfortunately, surrogate or secondary endpoints such as progression-free survival don’t always predict for overall survival.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progression-free_survival
Pharma provide (new) drugs free to patients who participate in clinical trials but it is important to note that not all trials are equal.
The other point to consider is that trial results often are more positive than when used in the general patient population. There are a number of reasons for that.
Because of the side effects and the general lack of predictive diagnostics, I think there has to be a sound evidence-base before PHARMAC fully funds new treatments. Partly, because it could go at the expense of other expenditure on proven treatments, be it for cancer or non-cancer.
New drugs offer great promise in some cases but also come with great(er) uncertainty. IMO, this should definitely be reflected in a lower cost price to PHARMAC.
In some ways, it is the pharma’s best interest to treat as many patients as possible regardless of whether they’ll benefit or not. Patient selection based on predictive diagnostics increases the chances of clinical benefit to the patient but reduces the potential market size for the pharma.
The main issue is that the best drug should be tailored to a specific patient (best match) with the greatest chance of a beneficial outcome for the patient, which is where personalised medicine is heading, and this could be coupled to the pharma’s profit. Currently, the two are often uncoupled from each other and pricing is set by the pharma and how much ‘the market’ can tolerate and is willing to accept. It has an element of preying on the desperate and giving them hope …
Results need to be made public and there needs much more transparency and accountability from and by the pharma industry especially since we, the Taxpayers, pay for it.
As I said, it is a great topic for a post.
Good luck getting the industry to be more open, though the European regulators may solve that one for us eventually.
Sometimes, you get the feeling that the ‘ethics’ of Big Pharma and Tobacco Industry are virtually indistinguishable. Of course, their number one priority is to satisfy their shareholders.
Regulators should make it mandatory to publish all results of all trials through peer-review. Patients shouldn’t be used as Guinea pigs to boost profits.
After market approval, all adverse events need to be collated in a central register that is open and searchable. This needs an international global approach.
Sometimes, you get the feeling that the ‘ethics’ of Big Pharma and Tobacco Industry are virtually indistinguishable.
Careful there Incognito, that's a line straight from the book I'm reading at the moment about adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine.
Given what else is going on in this world of ours is anyone surprised?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12253391
“It counts among its members German police officers, military personnel — and even the elite anti-terror squad Spezialeinsatzkommand.”
The dad penny's been busy.
https://twitter.com/_pamcampos/status/1154725314666422272
[…]
https://twitter.com/_pamcampos/status/1154732456957943808
https://twitter.com/_pamcampos/status/1154738132241264640
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1154725314666422272.html
working link to the german police neo-n cell
Stray amp; snuck into the link
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12253391
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12253391
Outgoing head of ASMS tells Clark to " "Toughen up David; the fires are burning and you are running out of time."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/114548766/outgoing-health-union-boss-slams-health-minister-david-clark
I am not the only commenter here who has expressed bitter disappointment at the nation being stuck with yet another Minister of Health who is clearly unequal to the task of enabling the necessary reboot of our Public Health and Disability system.
That is, of course, if the Current Mob were speaking true when they declared their intention to be transformational and address the failings and inequities that have been allowed to flourish under the past four administrations.
A cynical person might suspect that the underlying intent is to push this nation inexorable down the path to a system where those who can go private and those who can't….suffer and die.
But hey, the EOLC Bill will ease their departure.
See, they have got a plan after all.
Choices are certainly a bitch, aren't they. Salaried medical specialists are probably in just the category that would have benefited from National's further cuts to income tax that the new government reversed. Instead the increased the minimum wage, increased benefits, stopped spending so much money on making WINZ staff proxy police and got them to actually help people in need (and surprise surprise suddenly without changing the law suddenly staff found that many people were actually eligible for a benefit). They put money into repairing and building social housing, and money into reviewing education for skills training so we don;t have to import more; they settled long overdue wage agreements with nurses and teachers. In half a term quite a bit has been achieved. Meanwhile we are looking forward to the possibility of another world recession; our debt position as a country is much higher than desirable, and a pre-election promise has led to our continuing with low income tax rates for companies and individuals, with some blatant loopholes that further reduce spending options.
I agree that there was a lurch towards private provision of health services under the Key/English governments – and yes there is a gap in earnings between private and public specialists. I well remember a news item shortly before the 2017 election where Bill English proudly attended a major extension of Bowen Hospital in Wellington; accompanied I think around the same time by the purchase by a private provider of an MRI machine – but don't worry, the public sector can contract to use it when it is not being used for private patients . . . So I too would like the public sector to "close the gap" in a lot of ways, but if priority were to be given to salaried medical specialists, what other part of spending would you be happy to reduce, Rosemary?
Cut the military spend, tax the top 1 to 10 percent (income earners) more and increase that tourist entry levy to at least a hundred dollars.
Only one out of three is a reduction of spending!?
That's simply because the revenue doesn't have to solely come from cuts elsewhere.
Nevertheless, it’s strange how when it comes to health there's no money but when it comes to Mycoplasma bovis there's a blank cheque.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/06/grant-robertson-signs-blank-cheque-to-tackle-mycoplasma-bovis.html
Sure, but that wasn’t the question, was it? It would have been more honest and clearer to reframe the question and explain why but you didn’t, did you?
You do sound a tad like Amy Adams “sniping” about or at the Budget, don’t you?
Edit:
You are an attack machine Rosemary McD. Only your problems and those of other disabled people should be looked at, nobody else matters. And talking down the ELOC (End of Life Choice) Bill is a narrow position. Less money spent on interfering with natural death; limiting the drawn-out 'life' of terminally ill means more available for those actually living, not just existing. I am as despairing as you are of intelligent and fair behaviour as needed and wanted by people who need help with their plans for their future.
Health must be a nightmare portfolio….the reality is there will never be enough resources and choices will be made. …whether the best (or right?) will be a never ending debate….it will depend on where you view it from.
"Health", ie the "Ministry of", has become an autonomous corporate monster. Regardless of which colour flies atop the Beehive, the Ministry will continue along the path laid out over two decades ago. Underfund the system and provide dysfunctional leadership. Blame and accuse those charged with providing frontline services for not being able to function as required when they're running to stand still. Contract out core services to profiteers. Allow the creation of an separate profession called 'health management and administration', whose sole role appears to be to draw $$$ away from actual treatment and care and into the salaries of those who without knowing the first thing about running a busy ward march in and start telling the medical staff how to run a busy ward….Brian Easton describes these parasites here…https://pundit.co.nz/content/who-was-accountable-for-the-shambles
A brave Prime Minister would address the Nation and say.."Look folks, our Public Health and Disability system is in deepest shit.. Decades of mismanagement has resulted in such a deficit that we have only two choices….a) give up and limp along on existing funding and under the cloud of strained relationships and encourage those who can afford it to take out private health insurance (as was the plan in the first place), or b) we do a massive reboot, a sizeable and meaningful cash injection that will truly be an investment for future generations…but this option requires us to impose and extra 2% of tax on every earner, ringfenced as an addition to the current Vote Health appropriations. This tax shall stay in place until we're out of the pooh."
I'd go for b.
Id go for 'b' as well….but would note the result would still be well short of providing everything demanded.
Health care will always be triaged….some honest discussions about what are must haves and what would be good if able are needed, but I doubt any politician of any hue is willing to risk that
Big shoes to fill now that Ian is stepping down.
Thanks for the link, Rosemary.
David Clark seems to believe long-standing workforce issues can't somehow be solved by bringing in more trained medical specialists (from offshore) or is it a case of the Government not wanting to spend the money required to do that?
Great article worth another read in these times – we all have this tendency – some more than others – listen please, just listen.
That is good MM. Shutting up and finding ways to affirm their thoughts or occasionally indicate a different way, 'Have you thought of trying…' is the best. Sometimes thoughts get so scrambled that talking through them with a trusted person gives a clarity.
What a bloody laugh as I woke up today (sunday) 28th july to see lame brain Simon Bridges saying;;
“I believe in climate change is a real threat to our nation” to Tova O;Brien, and then he tries to nail the point home by saying quote “we have two electric cars”
If that incredible statment wasn;t enough, then he says about the National Party policy was to build new roads????
What the fuck@@@@@
Is he brainless? it would seem as he is as more roads are not the way forward to lower the climate emissions!!
Using more rail is, as rail uses six times less fuel to move the same amount as trucks do, and rail uses no tyres and only “steel on steel wheels, for low friction and only has steel particulates emissions.
Vehicle tyres emit large amounts of tyre dust pollution made from oil distilates similar to plastic,
That causes cancer and nervous system damage, with 1,3,Butadience styrene,
https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MMG/MMG.asp?id=455&tid=81
So grow some brain Simon as you are once again showing your ignorance.
Wonderful comments from academic Margaret Mutu on Ihumātao, "divide and rule" approach.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12252876
Do you think that this presents a good opportunity to revisit the whole settlement issue? Peeni Henare made it clear this morning that returning land in private ownership will render all previous settlements invalid. That could well be a legitimate outcome, do you have a perspective on that?
I tend to go along with the thinking that this is a special case. The iwi were shut out of decision making and simply don't want the land developed.
That is quite different to the pakeha fear that this would now mean all private land is up for grabs to be given back.
Ok – I think it's not so much 'pakeha fear' as a legal nightmare unless the 'special case' aspect is extremely well established as exactly that.
The strategy only works when the target group allows it to do so. Unity defeats division. Mutu ought to get real instead. If she really believes the four-year stand-off between niece & uncle was caused by the crown, she ought to produce evidence of that. She hasn't even tried to do so, has she?
What kind of people are attracted to an overt racist? … oh, right…people suffering from economic anxiety.
/
https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/status/1155221137930051585
The polling bump (thankfully very small) he got from "send her back" suggested that there is in fact a group of deplorables on the fence about whether he is sufficiently racist for their taste. Trying to lock down their support might be why he's going after Cummings now.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-elijah-cummings-brutal-bully-rodent-infested-district_n_5d3c4ec1e4b0c31569eb6234
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/395386/health-expert-renews-call-for-study-on-nitrates-in-drinking-water
and
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/395379/bridges-promises-cancer-agency-200m-for-drugs
If National didn't limit itself to promising action to the citizens about decent drinking water and severe limitations on pollution in waterways then he wouldn't need to bribe voters with cancer drug offers (most of which don't cure). The appearance of concern after the fact is a sorry sight and leads to disdain, recognising the degeneracy of National from voters of principle.
Interesting:
Workers in eastern Europe and former Soviet states prefer socialism:
Former Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s approval rating has hit a record high of 70 percent amongst Russians, according to a study published by the Levada polling centre. (Stalin’s approval rating among Russians hits record high, The Moscow Times, 16 April 2019) ……
https://www.cpgb-ml.org/2019/07/26/news/workers-eastern-europe-former-ussr-prefer-socialism/
Don't need Putin's bots to win elections in Russia when you have Putin's bats to do the job for you.
Thousand arrests at Moscow rally
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49125045
https://twitter.com/howroute/status/1155205677809373186
https://twitter.com/howroute/status/1155280981059887105
Imagine you telling Stalin his system was socialism. You'd disappear real fast.![wink wink](https://cdn.ckeditor.com/4.11.3/full-all/plugins/smiley/images/wink_smile.png)
Fuck you are an ignorant fool….
Socialism in one country (Russian: социализм в отдельно взятой стране, tr. sotsializm v otdelno vzyatoy strane, literally socialism in a single country) was a theory put forth by Joseph Stalin and Nikolai Bukharin in 1924 which was eventually adopted by the Soviet Union as state policy.
So the pretence fools you that easily? He had to kill 30 million of his own people to try and get the rest to believe in the sham, and it still didn't work. Reality trumps delusion. Every time.![devil devil](https://cdn.ckeditor.com/4.11.3/full-all/plugins/smiley/images/devil_smile.png)
Oh fuck off. Don't deflect.
You made a stupid fucken statement. Stalin, and indeed virtually all so-called 'communist' countries describe themselves as 'socialist'.
'Socialism' is the phase before true 'communism' is achieved.
You obviously don't fucken know that and that shows what a dumb shit you are unqualified to comment on anything to so with the communist movement and Marxism Leninism.
30 million killed? ……sound like a naive stupid school girl.
Now answer me this. If Stalin really was such a monster, why is he so widely admired even now, in the very country he was supposed to have committed the vast majority of his crimes.
You really appear to not know much history. Perhaps you should look at the effects of mass level propaganda when the media is held and controlled by the state. It was a thing in the mid-20th century after the technology became available for it to be achieved.
If you studied the period with a little more depth, the you’d look less like a complete idiot. You might even be capable of making an argument without all of the dick pulling you just did.
I’d suggest you don’t use that kind of abuse approach to replying again. Next time I see you do it, I’ll demonstrate exactly how useless you are at it. You do appear to be a pretty incompetent dimwit – wannabe student?
If Stalin really was such a mass murdering monster then it would be in the lived memories of those few still alive who lived during his time, or at least it would have been passed down to the sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters of those who did.
To think that we living in the West are not subject to those same mass delusions created by the corporate media that you accuse those living in non Western countries of being subject to by their own respective media is to be completely absurd.
To think that the opinion of a Russian of his own history is less valid than a Westerner who only reads Anne Appelbaum and Robert Conquest is simply quite arrogant.
If you looked at the article I linked to in my first post, it is Western researchers themselves who have found that many many people, a majority in some former Eastern bloc countries, people who actually lived under the socialist system, find it was better in those days than what they have now.
And if life in the former Soviet Union was really such a horror show, why did Putin restore the Soviet Anthem with only the words re-written, surely nothing is more redolent of past times, good or bad, than great music.
And anecdotally, I have heard the same from Eastern Europeans who now live in New Zealand.
Thread +++
"Congratulating Stalin means supporting him and his cause, supporting the victory of socialism, and the way forward for mankind which he points out, it means supporting a dear friend. For the great majority of mankind today are suffering, and mankind can free itself from suffering only by the road pointed out by Stalin and with his help."
Mao Zedong, Dec 1939
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-2/mswv2_24.htm
It was. This isn’t exactly hard to find if you look around for material from the Khrushchev thaw period between 1953 and about 1957/8 arguably later – but really the thing pretty much died after the Hungarian repression.
If you haven’t seen it, then I’d say that you probably have just been avoiding it.
What makes you think that we aren’t? Tell you do you ever listen to anyone else apart from your own self-referential bullshit. After all I was born in 1959. My adolescence was backgrounded with the stupidity of the Vietnam war, the threat of nuclear annihilation, and all of those old soldiers who’d never talk about the first or second world wars and what they saw entering the charnel houses of Europe and Japan.
So? My grandparents were young adults and my parents were children grew up in post-1930s depression and in WW2 and the reconstruction in the 1940s and 50s. They’d happily tell you that that world was a better place then it was when I was doing army and university in the late 1970s. In fact the only ancient person that I have ever come across who seemed to think that when they grew up was shite was my great grandmother. But she was in service in her teens and really on the arse-end of society.
Generally relying on the rose tinted recollections of the past or the even dark tinted recollections of the mentally ill or abused is simply not useful. You have a hell of a problem trying to get a un-self-selected sample because people will either want to talk about it or not depending how it is framed at them. The most significiant way of running those kinds of samples is to look at the silences – that is always where the interesting stuff is kept. The treatment of teen pregnancies in NZ being a good local example. Or the way that people don’t talk about the GULAG in the USSR. Or the silence related to the work-to-death slavery that the Japanese did in Mongolia and China in the 1930s and 40s.
Personally I don’t have an opinion on history. I just study it. That is something that is quite different from the kind of myth repetition that you’re referring to (and are doing yourself). History is something that I have been doing as a hobby (with a bit of uni time as well) for about 48 years after I switched from fiction to non-fiction as my main reading material.
Personally I’m not interested in dumb-arse propaganda, and it certainly doesn’t do you any favours when you try to shout it down peoples throats. Especially people who are clearly bigger skeptics than you are.
The gulag systems are about as well documented as the Japanese internment camps of the US after 1941, or the way that we used Somes Island and a few other places here or just about every other reasonably well run camp system. By their very nature, prison camp systems are at documented and accounted for because they’re pretty costly to run. Most of the time their records survive for historians. The exceptions are usually where there is an attempted coverup, like the Nazi concentration camps or the Cambodian death camps before they got over-run by advancing forces.
The gulag system wasn’t over run. It was just run-down post-Stalin. The documentation of the system (albeit somewhat cleaned up) was done in the speech by Khrushchev in 1956. The material that was prepared on was a series of studies of the gulag system by the USSR communist party hierarchy and its use in the late 1930s during the largest part of the largest purges. As a ‘skeptic’, you can probably assume that in itself was a sanitised version.
Perhaps you should find it and actually study a translation of the speech and the investigation of the 17th party congress and its aftermath. Sanitised or not, it was pretty searing indictment of a system that you seem to be trying to say never existed. Which I find to be a rather willfully self-delusional bit of stupidity.
Mr Prentice.
I think you miss the point, to put it politely.
Yes, people often do look to the past with rose tinted glasses, but not if they were supposed to have gone through the horrors of 'stalinism' as portrayed in the West.
I was responding to rather less informed commentators than yourself, people such as Dennis Frank who comes up with the fantastical 30 million nonsense, or people like Appelbaum or Timothy Snyder.
Yes, one could have gone through perhaps the 1930s depression and still have somewhat fond memories of community bonding, say, or character building.
That's different from going through the Holocaust – not many old European Jews from WWII era qill say, 'well we sure had things better in those days!' You don't get parades in Israel with Nazi banners, nor, I am sure would the Horst Wessel move people to tears.
Similarly if Stalin really did commit the sort of crimes claimed for him by the Western corporate media, he would be hated by the people he ruled, mainly Russians. Not repeatedly voted as the greatest 'Russian'
NoteStalin's popularity wildly eclipses Khruschev who is seen as a fool and a liar and particularly Gorbacheve are seen as a traitor.
Stalin, while not perfect, surely was one of the greatest men of the 20 thcentury.
And also, you may find this interesting:
For more informed comment on Russia and Putin than anyone at this site …. I recommend this video ….
It explains quite well the a) Power …. and b) Popularity of Putin in Russia .
And if you want to hear / learn about our propaganda towards Russia ….. This doco mentions 1947 as the year when Russia became a 'official enemy', to be attacked by every means apart from troops.
I've always wondered how many of 'stalins famine' was down to 'scorched earth' warfare' //// and the huge amount of working aged men killed in Russia…..
….Our propaganda seems to say none,,,,, and stalin killed them all…
But Even Stalin was not as bad as neo=lib western 'shock thearapy'… which is probably why the Russians hold the views they do.
It isn't a record high. When he was in power it was 100% approval.
It seems Yelstin got a 200% voter turn out in Chechnya … … now that is impressive :0
Leading thinkers discuss the protest at Ihumātao
Magic Talk, Thursday 25 July 2019, 10:15 a.m.
AMANDA: It's the gravy train. They're being rewarded for their behaviours.
PETER WILLIAMS: Thanks for that, Amanda! Good morning, Chris.
CHRIS: Yeah g'day. Just looking at the calibre of these protestors: what would their EMPLOYERS have been thinking?
PETER WILLIAMS: [chortling conspiratorially] What are you trying to say, Chris? What are you trying to say?
CHRIS: Have they even GOT jobs? That lady from Britain you had on earlier, she needs to get her head out of the clouds. I was talking to my friend the policeman, and he says that NINETY PER CENT of the crime is Maori, and it's getting worse, and it's getting WORSE, and it's getting WORSE. …..
ad nauseam, omnia mane….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/07/magic-talk-is-outlet-for-racist-bilge.html
Build a wall.
Send in the marines.
Oh no.
"I'm popularly supported" claims the current Nat frontperson: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/395285/simon-bridges-on-surviving-in-leadership-role-i-m-popularly-supported
The suffering in Yemen continues.
https://twitter.com/MohammedHojily/status/1155146695568711680
Kia Ora The Am Show.
Today is the day humans have used all that Papatuanuku can produce in a year was used up in 7 months we will all have to become minimalist to survive.
Lance that is awesome the 200 Mobil doctor clinic that services is NEEDED in Te taiwhiti.
Sam Eco Maori thinks that your championing all the tamariki in foster care been given a KIWIs Saver account that would set them up for life ka pai.
Lance that was a awesome eureka moment the mobile healthcare clinic thanks. Its been a while since Eco Maori had a Eureka moment ma te wa. It would be nice if the big companies sponsored this Fontana Gull Mobile Pack and save Countdown The Warehouse Eco Maori lays a challenge for you to sponsor this great out of the square Idea
Its hard to get a doctor's appointment in rual Aotearoa the wait can be 1 to 2 weeks to see a doctor Eco Maori knowns that it pays to trear a ailment immediately if not the case just gets worse next minute hangi .q
That was well said the African American who gave trump a great serve very cool.
Winston I agree that colmar brunton poll is just use to manipulate and lie to the VOTERS.
Good to see you on the Show Winston.
Duncan you need to Google your self.
I agree Winston the Coalition Government is cleaning up a big national MESS.
There you go people playing games with imagration figure to try and make the government look bad.
The Black Caps did Aotearoa proud its not there fault that the system is bent by putea chin up guys.
Bryce statistics lie when they are massaged by right wing money to try and boost their m8 rating ie national.
Ka kite ano
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/Xo7WjnC8ekQ
Kia Ora Newshub.
Elijah your words hit a brick wall kia kaha Tangata whenua O Aotearoa get more respect than other minoritie culture get from the ruling class but we still have a lot of crap heaped on us one just has to look at the fiasco that is going on around Eco Maori to see that's a FACT.
I think it's is about time that the car manufacturers should have a solution for babies being left in car very great idea.
That man who lost his twins accidentally leaving them in a hot car. He was working in a most probably a under staffed and over worked people I say it was fatigue over worked that caused him to forget his babys he will be shattered.
I have already given my tau toko of Lance great Idea come on if it saves you money David and saves lives why not back it .
Ka kite ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
There you go Our Coalition Governments has invested more than a billion dollar into the welbing of the needy don't rock te waka to much we might get swamped.
Look like most of my Ngati Porou Whanau have a higher IQ than most as that is only a small amount of people at that protest about CYPS in Turanga A kiwa .
Condolences to Sean Whanau for their great lose Eco Maori seen quite a bit of Sean in Maori leaders circles.
I its good
Te Ao Maori News its lucky Eco Maori has a few skills up his sleeve as the sandflys tried to block my post to Maori TV.
Some muppets called shonky royalty YEA RIGHT did you hear him put his foot in his mouth he said Jacinda is a morals based person thats great for Jacinda but Eco Maori says because shonky made that statement live on TV he has admitted to having NO MORALS.
I,, Winston national are talking alot of hog wash about the putea being invested in cancer drugs and treatment they are desperate have you ever seen a political party pull all the fossil out of the cupboard to try and lift there poll ratings keep those back benches WARM.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora The Am Show.
simon you're just rambling words. The Coalition government has made more good choices and changes in 2 years than national did in 8
Sandy the Baltimore issue trump is just a bully he thinks he can control everyone
Seenothing your statement shows you don't have enough respect for Tangata Whenua O Aotearoa.
If there was no Organized Crime in NZ what about all the Pee addicts I see around NZ I see a spike in these people in Port cities Why because thats where the shit is getting into NZ.
Ka kite ano